Method of manufacturing a body adhering absorbent article orientated in the machine direction with reduced curl

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides methods of manufacturing a body adhering absorbent article oriented in the machine direction wherein the body adhering absorbent articles have reduced or eliminated curl. The articles are manufactured with reduced curl by selectively reducing or eliminating the shell elastic tension in regions where components of the body adhering absorbent article are to be attached to form the composite absorbent article web. In certain aspects the body adhering absorbent articles are manufactured by supplying an elastic web of shell material having a longitudinal and transverse direction, stretching the web of shell material in the longitudinal direction, deadening at least one region of the stretched web of shell material, attaching at least one absorbent article component to at least a portion of the longitudinal deadened zone to form a composite web material, and cutting the composite web material to form a body adhering absorbent article.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to methods of making a body adhering absorbentarticle oriented in the machine direction, the article having little orno curl. Various methods of constructing individual body adheringabsorbent articles are described that reduce or eliminate the amount ofresidual stretch present in the shell where components are attached.

BACKGROUND

Several methods have been proposed for making body adhering absorbentarticles. The body adhering absorbent articles generally consist ofcomponents which are laminated to an elastic shell, which is generallyin a tensioned state during the assembly process, to form a compositeweb of individual absorbent articles. When the discrete body adheringabsorbent articles are die cut from the composite web the individualarticles curl toward the elasticized shell material in the areas whereit has been attached to the components as a result of residual stretchpresent in the shell material in the laminated regions.

Curling of a body adhering absorbent article is undesirable because itmay interfere with peel strip removal, attachment to the body and theability of the article to stay attached to the body. Curling of theproduct in the absorbent area may also interfere with the fit andgasketing of the product. Products which curl are also more difficult toconvert, fold, and package increasing the level of defects, and machinedowntime.

Accordingly there is a need for a method of manufacturing a bodyadhering absorbent article that reduces or eliminates the curl of thefinished product, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and easingmanufacture.

SUMMARY

It has now been discovered that curl of body adhering absorbent articlesmay be reduced or eliminated by selectively reducing or eliminating theshell elastic tension in regions where components of the body adheringabsorbent article, such as an adhesive transfer layer component or anabsorbent article component, are to be attached to form the compositeabsorbent article web. Accordingly, in one aspect the present disclosureprovides a method of manufacturing a body adhering absorbent oriented inthe machine direction comprising supplying an elastic web of shellmaterial having a longitudinal and transverse direction; stretching theweb of shell material in the longitudinal direction; deadening at leastone region of the stretched web of shell material in the longitudinaldirection to form a longitudinal deadened zone; attaching at least onecomponent to at least a portion of the longitudinal deadened zone toform a composite web material; and cutting the composite web material toform an absorbent article having a predetermined size and shape.

In still other aspects the present disclosure provides a method ofmanufacturing a body adhering absorbent oriented in the machinedirection comprising supplying an elastic web of shell material having alongitudinal and transverse direction; maintaining the elastic web ofshell material in an untensioned state; attaching at least one componentto the untensioned elastic web of shell material to form a composite webmaterial; and cutting the composite web material to form an absorbentarticle having a predetermined size and shape.

In yet other aspects the present disclosure provides a method ofmanufacturing a body adhering absorbent oriented in the machinedirection comprising supplying an activatable web of shell materialhaving a longitudinal and transverse direction; intermittentlyactivating a portion of the web of shell material in the longitudinaldirection to create activated and nonactivated portions of the web ofshell material in the longitudinal direction; attaching at least onecomponent to the at least one nonactivated portion of the web of shellmaterial to form a composite web material; and cutting the composite webmaterial to form an absorbent article having a predetermined size andshape.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a method ofmanufacturing a body adhering absorbent oriented in the machinedirection comprising supplying a web of shell material having elasticand nonelastic zones; attaching at least one component to the nonelasticzone of the web of shell material to form a composite web material; andcutting the composite web material to form an absorbent article having apredetermined size and shape.

In still another aspect the present disclosure provides a method ofmanufacturing a multi-segmented body adhering absorbent oriented in themachine direction comprising supplying a web of shell material;attaching an adhesive transfer layer to the web of shell material toform a first composite web; cutting the first composite web to formdiscrete panels; attaching an absorbent component to the discrete panelsto form a second composite web; and cutting the second composite webmaterial to form an absorbent article having a predetermined size andshape.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a body adhesive absorbent articleaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of an adhesive transfer layer accordingto one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a method of manufacturing an absorbent structure accordingto one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing an absorbentarticle component according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing an absorbentarticle according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing a body adheringabsorbent article according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a top view of a web of body adhering absorbent articlesaccording to still another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing a body adheringabsorbent article according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing a body adheringabsorbent article according to still another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing a bodyadhering absorbent article according to another embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing a bodyadhering absorbent article according to yet another embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a machine direction method of manufacturing a bodyadhering absorbent article according to still another embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 13 shows a multi-segmented body adhesive absorbent articleaccording to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, thepresent disclosure provides methods of manufacturing a machine directionoriented multi-segmented body adhesive absorbent article;

FIG. 14 shows one embodiment for manufacturing a machine directionoriented body adhesive absorbent article in a multi-lane nestedconfiguration; and

FIG. 15 shows still another embodiment for manufacturing a machinedirection oriented body adhesive absorbent article and more particularlya machine direction oriented multi-segmented body adhesive absorbentarticle.

DEFINITIONS

It should be noted that, when employed in the present disclosure, theterms “comprises,” “comprising,” and other derivatives from the rootterm “comprise” are intended to be open-ended terms that specify thepresence of any stated features, elements, integers, steps, orcomponents, and are not intended to preclude the presence or addition ofone or more other features, elements, integers, steps, components, orgroups thereof.

“Absorbent structure” refers to the central fluid handling portion of anabsorbent article and may include but is not limited to one or more ofthe following components: cellulose fluff, superabsorbent material,coform, absorbent sponge material, surge material, or wicking materialbut does not include a topsheet or backsheet.

“Absorbent component” may include but is not limited to one or more ofthe following components: an absorbent structure, as defined above, afluid pervious topsheet, a fluid impervious backsheet, or attachmentadhesive.

As used herein, the term “adhesive transfer layer” generally refers toan adhesive region of the body adhering absorbent article thatfacilitates adhesion of the article to a user. In certain preferredembodiments the adhesive transfer layer comprises a lower peel strip,construction adhesive, a body attachment adhesive, a nonwoven carrierand an upper peel strip.

As used herein, the term “attach” and its derivatives refer to thejoining, adhering, connecting, bonding, sewing together, or the like, oftwo elements. Two elements will be considered to be attached togetherwhen they are integral with one another or attached directly to oneanother or indirectly to one another, such as when each is directlyattached to intermediate elements. “Attach” and its derivatives includepermanent, releasable, or a refastenable attachment. In addition, theattachment can be completed either during the manufacturing process orby the end wearer.

As used herein, “body-facing” means that surface or side of the articlewhich is intended to be disposed toward or placed adjacent to the bodyof the wearer during ordinary use. The term “garment-facing” means thatsurface or side that is on the opposite side of the article from thebody-facing surface or side. The garment-facing surface is an outwardsurface of the article and is intended to be disposed to face away fromthe wearer's body during ordinary use. The garment-facing surface isgenerally arranged to face toward or placed adjacent to the wearer'sundergarments or clothing when the article is worn.

As used herein, the term “connected” is intended to mean directlyconnected and indirectly connected. By directly connected, it isintended that the connected elements are in contact with one another oraffixed to one another. By indirectly connected, it is intended that oneor more intervening or intermediate elements are between the twoelements which are secured or “connected” together. The interveningelements may be affixed.

As used herein, the terms “elastomeric,” “elastic,” “elasticized,” and“elastically” generally refer to that property of a material orcomposite by virtue of which it tends to recover its original size andshape after removal of a force causing a deformation. An elastomericmaterial is an extendable material having recovery properties. Suitably,an elastically extensible material can be elongated to at least 25% ofits relaxed original length (percent elongation refers to the increasein the original length of the untensioned material, i.e., 0% refers tothe original length of the untensioned material) in the direction of anapplied biasing force, and which will recover, upon release of theapplied force, at least 10% of its elongation. It is generally preferredthat the elastomeric material or composite be capable of being elongatedby from at least about 25% of its relaxed original length (i.e., anincrease of 25% from its untensioned length) to about 200% of itsrelaxed original length, for example preferably from at least about 50to about 100% of its relaxed original length.

As used herein, the phrase “orientated in the machine-machine direction”refers generally to the orientation of the manufactured absorbentarticle. For example, with reference to FIG. 7, where the longestdimension 98 of the absorbent article is orientated substantiallyparallel to the direction of travel 76 of the shell composite web 53,the absorbent article is said to be manufactured in the machinedirection 76 and the absorbent article is said to be “orientated in themachine direction.” Conversely, where the longest dimension of theabsorbent article 98 is orientated substantially perpendicular to thedirection of travel of the web 76, the absorbent article is said to bemanufactured in the “cross-machine direction,” or “CD.”

“Untensioned” as used herein to describe a web of material does not meanlacking all tension. In order to handle and process moving webs, somemoderate amount of tension is needed to hold the web or material inplace. Accordingly, an “untensioned” web or material, as used herein, isunder enough tension to process the material, but less than thatrequired to cause substantial deformation (e.g., necking) of thematerial.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, the present disclosure relates to methods of manufacturing abody adhering absorbent oriented in the machine direction wherein theresulting body adhering absorbent article has little or no curl. Variousmethods of constructing individual body adhering absorbent articles aredescribed that reduce or eliminate the amount of residual stretchpresent in the shell where components, such as absorbent articlecomponents or the adhesive transfer layer components, are attached.Eliminating curl is important for facilitating use of the body adheringabsorbent article, particularly in the region of the article that isadhered to the user. By eliminating curl both the fit and the functionof the body adhering absorbent article may be improved.

Now with reference to FIG. 1, one embodiment of a body adheringabsorbent article 20 is illustrated. Body adhering absorbent article 20comprises a body adhering shell 29, and an absorbent component 40. Thecomposition of the body adhering shell 29 may be varied depending uponthe method of manufacturing. For example, as described in more detailbelow, where the method of manufacturing comprises deadening portions ofthe shell web material 30 or attaching components to the shell webmaterial 30 while it is in an untensioned state, the shell material 30may be a stretchable laminate of a woven or nonwoven fabric with asilicone polymer, wherein the silicone polymer has adhesive properties.In this aspect, the second side of the shell can be the woven ornonwoven fabric and the first side of the shell can be the siliconepolymer. For example, in one embodiment the shell material 30 may be astretchable laminate of a woven or nonwoven fabric such as the nonwovencomposite containing an apertured elastic film disclosed in USPublication No. 2008/0095978,the contents of which are incorporatedherein in a manner consistent with the present disclosure. Othersuitable shell materials are discussed below.

The body adhering shell 29 further comprises a body adhesive, forexample an adhesive transfer layer (ATL) 32. A preferred configurationof the ATL 32 is shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment the ATL 32 consistsof lower peel strip 36 b, construction adhesive 33, body attachmentadhesive 34, nonwoven carrier 35, and upper peel strip 36 a. Theconstruction adhesive 33 may be, for example, Easymelt 34-5610 (NationStarch Chemical Co., Bridgewater, N.J.), the body attachment adhesive 34may be, for example, BMS gel 4a (Biomed Sciences, Inc., Allentown, Pa.),the nonwoven carrier 35 may be, for example, rayon/polyester Spunlacenonwoven (Biomed Sciences, Inc., Allentown, Pa.) and the peel strip 36may be, for example, 24KSA final release paper (Tekkote Co., Leonia,N.J.).

In one embodiment an ATL 32 comprising a peel strip 36, body attachmentadhesive 34, and nonwoven carrier 35 may be manufactured by providing aweb of nonwoven carrier 35, providing a web of peel strip 36 a, applyinga body attachment adhesive 34 to the peel strip 36 a and curing theadhesive 34, for example by treating the adhesive 34 with ultravioletlight. Once the adhesive 34 is cured to the appropriate level the peelstrip adhesive composite is laminated to a nonwoven carrier 35. In apreferred embodiment the body attachment adhesive layer 34 is narrowerthan the peel strip 36 a and may be narrower than the nonwoven carrier35. This results in the formation of a user grasping section or fingertab 37 on the lateral side edges of ATL web 32. In a particularlypreferred embodiment the ATL web 32 is made in a multi-wideconfiguration, slit into individual lanes and wound onto cores.

In another embodiment an ATL 32 comprising a lower peel strip 36 b,construction adhesive 33, nonwoven carrier 35, body attachment adhesive34, and upper peel strip 36 a may be manufactured by providing a web oflower peel strip 36 b, providing a web of nonwoven carrier 35, applyinga construction adhesive 33 to the nonwoven carrier 35 and laminating thenonwoven carrier 35 and construction adhesive 33 to the lower peel strip36 b. A web of upper peel strip 36 a is provided and a body attachmentadhesive 34 is applied to upper peel strip 36 a and cured to theappropriate level. The upper peel strip 36 a with cured body attachmentadhesive 34 is laminated to the nonwoven carrier 35, constructionadhesive 33, and lower peel strip 36 b laminate.

In still another embodiment an ATL 32 comprising a lower peel strip 36b, construction adhesive 33, nonwoven carrier 35, body attachmentadhesive 34, and upper peel strip 36 a may be manufactured by providingwebs of lower peel strip 36 b and nonwoven carrier 35 which are fed intothe process, applying construction adhesive 33 to the nonwoven carrier35 and laminating the nonwoven carrier 35 and construction adhesive 33composite to the lower peel strip 36b. A web of upper peel strip 36 a isprovided and discrete patches of body attachment adhesive 34 are appliedto upper peel strip 36 a and cured. The upper peel strip 36 a with cureddiscrete patches of body attachment adhesive 34 is laminated to thenonwoven carrier 35, construction adhesive 33, and lower peel strip 36 blaminate. In this embodiment the discrete patches of body attachmentadhesive layer result in the formation of lateral direction usergrasping sections 37. ATL lower peel strip 36 b and constructionadhesive 33 may or may not be needed depending upon the method of makingthe body adhering absorbent article 20.

In another embodiment an ATL 32 comprising a lower peel strip 36 b,construction adhesive 33, nonwoven carrier 35, body attachment adhesive34, and upper peel strip 36 a may be manufactured by providing webs ofnonwoven carrier 35 and peel strip 36 a which are fed into the process.The peel strip 36 a is c-folded over onto itself forming user graspingsection 37. Body attachment adhesive 34 is applied to the peel strip 36a, cured and laminated to the nonwoven carrier 35, constructionadhesive, and lower peel strip 36 b laminate.

In addition to the shell material 30 and ATL 32, the body adheringabsorbent article 20 may comprise an absorbent component 40, which isgenerally attached to the first side of the shell material 30. Theattachment may be in a permanent manner, meaning that the absorbentcomponent 40 is generally intended not to be removable by the wearer ofthe article 20. Alternatively, the absorbent component 40 may beconstructed to be removable by the wearer, meaning that the absorbentcomponent 40 may be removed and replaced with another absorbentcomponent 40 by the wearer of the article 20, or be replaced withnothing at all. In some aspects, when the absorbent component 40 isattached to the shell material 30 in a permanent manner, meaning thatthe absorbent component 40 is not intended to be removed by the wearer,various bonding means can be used, such as a construction adhesive forexample. Examples of useable construction adhesives include any adhesivewhich will effectively hold the absorbent component 40 in place, so asnot to be separated from the shell material 30. Commercially availableconstruction adhesives usable in the present invention include, forexample, Rextac™ adhesives available from Huntsman Polymers, Houston,Tex. Other means may be used to hold the absorbent component 40 to theshell material 30 including bonding techniques known in the art,including, but not limited to, adhesive bonds, cohesive bonds, thermalbonds, ultrasonic bonds, embossing, crimping, entangling, fusing, hookand loop, or the like, and combinations thereof.

Where the absorbent component 40 is preferably removably attached, theabsorbent component 40 is held in place on the shell material 30 by ameans which will allow the wearer to remove the absorbent component 40.One such means of holding the absorbent component 40 is by using apressure sensitive adhesive. Suitable pressure sensitive adhesivesinclude, but are not limited to, any commercially available pressuresensitive adhesive. Examples of suitable pressure sensitive adhesivesusable to removably hold the absorbent article 40 in place on the shellmaterial 30 include pressure sensitive adhesives available from NationalStarch, Bridgewater, N.J.

In certain embodiments it may be advantageous for the absorbent article40 to have a backsheet 42 and more preferably a fluid imperviousbacksheet. The backsheet can serve to provide liquid impermeability forthe absorbent component 40, such that any fluids entering the absorbentstructure 24 will not flow through the structure to the clothing of awearer. One example of a commercially available fluid imperviousbacksheet is the XP-3473a baffle available from Huntsman PackagingCorporation, Houston, Tex.

The absorbent structure may comprise wicking layers 43 a and 43 b, whichmay be formed from meltblown microfiber such as the 50 gsm meltblownfibers commercially available from Yuhan-Kimberly Ltd., Korea. Theabsorbent structure 24 may further comprise an absorbent layer 44,intake layer 45 and topsheet 46. The absorbent layer 44 may contain oneor more layers of absorbent materials, such as fibrous materials and/orsuperabsorbent materials for example. Each of the layers can containsimilar materials or different materials. Materials that can be used toform the absorbent layer 44 include those materials conventionally usedin absorbent articles and includes materials, such as, for example,cellulose, wood pulp fluff, rayon, cotton, and meltblown polymers suchas polyester, polypropylene or coform. Coform is a meltblown air-formedcombination of meltblown polymers, such as polypropylene, and absorbentstaple fibers, such as cellulose. A desired material is wood pulp fluff,for it is low in cost, relatively easy to form, and has good absorbency.

In a preferred embodiment the body adhering absorbent article 20comprises a peel strip 36, which extends in the longitudinal direction(machine direction) 76 beyond the extent of the body attachment adhesive34 forming a user grasping section also know as a finger tab 37. Thepresence of finger tab 37 allows the user to grasp the peel strip byplacing their thumb under the unattached peel strip region and graspingthe peel strip in the user grasping section 37 between the thumb andforefinger. The user of the product applies a peeling force to removethe anterior and posterior peel strips 36.

Referring to FIG. 6, one method of manufacturing a body adheringabsorbent article oriented in the machine direction is illustrated. Theprocess has a machine direction 76 and a cross-machine direction 77. Theprocess is initiated by providing a fluid permeable body facing web 46also known as a topsheet, or body-side liner. Topsheet 46 should be ableto manage different body excretions depending on the type of product. Infeminine care products, often the body-side liner or topsheet 46 must beable to handle menses and urine. In certain embodiments the topsheet 46may include a layer constructed of any operative material, and may be acomposite material. For example, the body-side liner or body-contactinglayer can include a woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, a polymer film, afilm-nonwoven fabric laminate or the like, as well as combinationsthereof. Topsheet web 46 has a left side 78 and a right side 79. Aconstruction adhesive 33 is applied to topsheet web 46. Suitableconstruction adhesives include, for example, Rextac™ adhesives, as wellas adhesives available from Bostik Findley, Inc, Wauwatosa, Wis.

After application of the construction adhesive 33 absorbent structures24 are applied to web 46. Absorbent structures 24 may contain one ormore layers of absorbent materials, such as fibrous materials and/orsuperabsorbent materials for example. That is, absorbent structures 24may be a single layer of absorbent materials or may be a multilayerstructure. Each of the layers can contain similar materials or differentmaterials. Absorbent structures 24 are further defined as having ananterior portion 84 and a posterior portion 85. Anterior portion 84 isdesigned to align with the anterior of the wearer in use and posteriorportion 85 is designed to align with the posterior of the wearer in use.Absorbent structures 24 also have a left side 86 and a right side 87. Inthis embodiment there is one longitudinal series of absorbent structures24 that are positioned on topsheet web 46. This longitudinal series ispositioned such that left side 86 of absorbent structures 24 is adjacentto the left side 78 of topsheet web 20. This longitudinal series ofabsorbents structures 24 follow a sequence where the posterior portions85 of each absorbent structure 24 in the series are adjacent to theanterior portion 84 of the subsequent absorbent structures 24.

After the application of the absorbent structures 24, a fluidimpermeable backsheet web 42 is delivered. Alternately backsheet web 34can be a fluid pervious web. Backsheet web 42 may, for example, includea polymeric film, a woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric or the like, as wellas combinations or composites thereof. For example, the backsheet mayinclude a polymer film laminated to a woven or nonwoven fabric. In aparticular feature, the polymer film can be composed of polyethylene,polypropylene, polyester or the like, as well as combinations thereof.Construction adhesive 33 is applied to backsheet web 42 and the topsheet46, absorbent structures 24, and backsheet 42 are laminated together toform a composite web 52. The composite web 52 may then be cut to formindividual absorbent article components 40. In a preferred embodimentconstruction adhesive is applied to the backsheet web prior to cuttinginto individual absorbent articles 40. As shown in greater detail inFIGS. 4 and 5 pressure sensitive adhesive or construction adhesive 33 isapplied to the garment facing side 89 of backsheet 42. In a particularembodiment pressure sensitive adhesive is applied in three lanes wherethe outboard lanes 33 a and 33 c are continuous and the center lane 33 bis discontinuous.

With further reference to FIG. 6, manufacture of the body adheringabsorbent article 20 continues with delivery of the web of a shellmaterial 30 having a body facing side 88 and a garment facing side 89.As noted previously the shell material 30 can include a polymeric film,a woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, a foam or the like, as well ascombinations or composites thereof. In some aspects, shell material mayinclude a laminate structure, such as a polymer film laminated to awoven or nonwoven fabric. The exact composition of the shell material 30may vary depending on the method of manufacture, as described more fullybelow. In certain embodiments the shell web 30 is corona treated toimprove its adhesion properties. Alternately shell material 30 can bepre-corona treated. A web of pre-laminated composite 32 referred to asan “Adhesive Transfer Layer” or ATL comprising a carrier sheet 35, bodyadhesive 34, and peel strip 36 is provided and adhered to the web ofshell material 30 to form a shell composite web 53. In a particularembodiment shown in FIG. 6 ATL web 32 is segmented into discrete ATLpatches 32 a. Patches 32 a are then rotated 90 degrees to properly alignthe finger tab 37 so that it is perpendicular to the machine direction76.

Manufacture continues with the preparation of the shell composite web 53for attachment of absorbent article components 40. An initial die cut ismade in composite web 52 to remove a portion of material that will becovered by absorbent article 40. In an alternate embodiment, asillustrated in FIG. 6, die cutting can be eliminated if absorbentarticle components 40 are positioned within or are coextensive withindividual body adhering shell 29. An attachment means, such as anadhesive 33, is then applied to the shell composite web 53. In otherembodiments the attachment means may be applied to the compositeabsorbent web 52 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Attachment means canbe eliminated if the absorbent component 40 has an attachment means forattaching it to body adhering shell 29. Alternately the attachment meanscan be a one part system, e.g. construction adhesive 33 for attachingabsorbent article 40 to body adhering shell 29. Alternately attachmentmeans can be a two part attachment system, not shown, such as a hook andloop fastener, cohesive, snaps, buttons, etc. where one part of the twopart attachment means is located on body adhering shell 29 and thesecond part of attachment means 21 is located on absorbent component 40.

Next individual absorbent article components 40 are delivered andattached to body facing surface 88 of shell composite web 53 such thatbarrier layer 42 of absorbent component 40 is adjacent to body facingsurface 88 of composite web 53. In this embodiment construction adhesive33 is used to make the attachment. One skilled in the art however, willappreciate that “attach” refers to any method of joining, adhering,connecting, bonding, sewing together, or the like, of two elements. Twoelements will be considered to be attached together when they areintegral with one another or attached directly to one another orindirectly to one another, such as when each is directly attached tointermediate elements and include permanent, releasable, or arefastenable attachment. Manufacture continues by die cutting individualbody adhering absorbent articles 20.

In an alternate embodiment, shown in FIG. 14, a multi-lane process canbe employed to produce more than one series of machine directionaloriented body adhering absorbent articles 20. In a particularlypreferred embodiment the body adhering absorbent articles may bemanufactured in a nested pattern to reduce the amount of raw materialnecessary to make an article. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14,the amount of shell web material necessary to make one product is equalto 0.5 multiplied by the dimension 93 multiplied by the dimension 98where the dimension 93 is the width of shell web 30, dimension 90 is thewidest width of the anterior portion 88 of shell 29, dimension 91 is thewidest width of the posterior portion 89 of shell 29, dimension 94 isthe length of shell 29 and passes through the midpoints of lines 90 and91 and dimension 98 is the length between lines 99 where lines 99 passthrough the midpoints of lines 94. In the illustrated embodiment thedimension 93 is equal to about 193 mm and dimension 98 is equal to about252 mm. The amount of shell material necessary to make one shell 29 inthis example is 24,318 mm². This represents a 41% reduction of shellmaterial as compared to a non-nested configuration.

Now with reference to FIG. 8, one method of making a body adheringabsorbent article 20 having reduced curl is illustrated. In thisembodiment a web of shell material 30 is initially introduced in anunstretched, nonactivated or untensioned state. The web of shellmaterial is then stretched and the remainder of the manufacturingprocess is carried out with the material in a tensioned state.

Preferably the web material 30 is a nonwoven web of fibrous materialsuch as, for example, a spunbond web, a meltblown web, bonded cardedweb, or a combination thereof. The material may be made of anelastomeric fiber forming polymer. A meltblown web used in thisinvention may initially be produced using conventional meltblowingprocesses and apparatus as known in the art whereby a cohesive web isformed. A nonwoven composite web used in this invention may initially beformed by techniques also well known in the art and described in USPublication No. 2008/0095978.

The shell material 30 may be stretched and maintained under tensionusing methods known in the art. For example, the shell web may beinitially introduced in an untensioned state, for example by unwindingthe web onto a conveyor and more preferably a vacuum conveyor. The rateof the feed roll may be adjusted to maintain the web in an untensionedstate as it is advanced along the conveyor. The conveyor transports theuntensioned web to a rotating drum that is driven at a higher rate ofspeed than the incoming web. The speed differential results in the webbeing stretched into a tensioned state as it is transferred to andcarried about the circumference of the drum. In one preferredembodiment, the drum is a vacuum drum. After about 220° of travel aroundthe drum the web is transferred to a second vacuum conveyor, whichtransports the web along the process. Preferably the speeds of theconveyor and the drum are synchronized such that the web is maintainedin a tensioned state. In other embodiments the web may be maintained ina tensioned state adjusting the unwind speed relative to the speed ofthe vacuum conveyor such that the web is maintained under tension.

After the web is stretched, portions 68 of the web 30 are deadened.Deadening refers to the process by which the extension, retraction orelastic properties of a web are reduced or eliminated by, for example,bonding, the application of heat, adhesive or a patch of inelasticmaterial. Bonding means may include, but are not limited to pressurebonding, ultrasonic bonding, adhesive bonding, thermal bonding, or thelike. In a particularly preferred embodiment regions 68 are deadened byforming bond lines in one or more selected regions of the stretchablenonwoven web or laminate material in one or more selected directions,whereby the stretchability in the selected direction of the material canbe controlled and substantially reduced in the region(s) of the bondlines. For example, a material with an initial stretch of from about 100to about 200% in the machine direction can be reduced to about 0 toabout 10% stretch with bond lines that cover from about 80 to about 100%of the material width. By applying bond lines to the shell material 30,an elastic nonwoven web or laminate material having zoned stretching maybe produced. For example, by applying bond lines in a direction parallelto the cross-machine direction, deadened regions of material 68 areproduced, such that when a tensioning force is applied in the machinedirection the deadened regions 68 will not stretch or exhibit reducedstretching. The stretchability of the material is easily controlledduring the bond line application process, by varying the length,thickness and density or frequency of the bond lines.

Once regions 68 have been deadened, components such as an ATL component32 or an absorbent component 40 are attached to the deadened regions 68of the shell web 30. The components may be attached using any methodknown in the art, for example, pressure bonding, adhesive bonding,thermal bonding and ultrasonic welding. Once the components are attachedto form a composite web 53, individual body adhering absorbent articles20 are die cut from the composite web 53. Upon cutting, the shellmaterial is untensioned, however, the deadened laminated areas 68 willhave little or no residual tension thus reducing or eliminating the curlin the relaxed untensioned body adhering absorbent article 20.

Turning now to FIG. 9, another embodiment for manufacturing a bodyadhesive absorbent article 20 is illustrated. As shown in FIG. 7 theshell web 30, which is preferably an elastic nonwoven compositecontaining an apertured elastic film such as that described in USPublication No. 2008/0095978, is initially introduced in an untensionedstate. In one embodiment the shell web 30 is introduced in anuntensioned state by unwinding the web unto a conveyor 56 and morepreferably a vacuum conveyor that is synchronized with the web feed rollto maintain the shell web 30 in an untensioned state. The shell web 30is carried along the conveyor 56 and transferred to a drum 58, whichlike the feed roll, is synchronized with the conveyor 56 to maintain theweb in an untensioned state. In a preferred embodiment, the drum 58 is avacuum drum. A drive means (not shown) for the drum 58 rotates it in aclockwise direction. Alternatively, the web may be carried along a firstconveyor and transferred to a second conveyor having a vacuum forretaining the web in an untensioned state. Preferably the secondconveyor, like the feed roll, is synchronized with the first conveyor tomaintain the web in an untensioned state.

While the shell web 30 is maintained on the drum 58 in an untensionedstate, components such as an ATL component 32 and an absorbent component40 are attached to the untensioned shell web 30. The components may beattached using any method known in the art, for example, adhesivebonding, pressure bonding, thermal bonding and ultrasonic welding.

After about 220° of travel around drum 58 a second conveyor 56synchronized with the drum 58 to maintain the shell web 30 in anuntensioned state removes the shell composite web 53 from the drum 58and transports it along the process. In a particular embodiment, afterthe components 32 and 40 have been attached to the shell web 30 thecomposite web 53 is transferred to a vacuum conveyor 56 to maintain theshell composite web 53 in an untensioned state. The untensioned shellcomposite web 53 may then be die cut to form individual body adheringabsorbent articles 20. When the individual body adhering absorbentarticles 20 are die cut from the shell composite web 53 little or nocurl will be present as a result of little or no residual tension in theshell laminated regions.

With reference to FIG. 10, another embodiment for manufacturing a bodyadhering absorbent article 20 is illustrated. As shown in FIG. 10, a webof shell material 30 is mechanically activated by mechanically treatingone or more selected regions 62 of the shell web 30 in one or moreselected directions, whereby the stretchability in the selecteddirection of the material can be controlled and substantially increasedin the region(s) mechanical treatment. For example, the elasticity of amaterial with an initial stretch of from about 0 to about 25% in themachine direction can be increased to about 50 to about 200% stretchwith machine treatment that is orientated in the cross-machine directionand treats from about 80 to about 100% of the material width. Bymechanically treating the shell material 30 an elastic web materialhaving zoned stretching in the machine direction 76 may be produced. Forexample, by mechanically treating the web in a direction parallel to thecross-machine direction, treated regions or zones of material 62 areproduced, such that when a tensioning force is applied in the machinedirection the treated zones 62 will stretch or exhibit increasedstretching, while unmachined, untreated zones 60 display little or noadditional stretch.

Accordingly, a web having mechanically activated and nonactivated zonesmay be prepared as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,834,741 and 5,366,782,the contents of which are incorporated herein in a manner consistentwith the present disclosure. For example a web, such as a polyolefinapertured web or a low density polyethylene film, both of which aresubstantially inelastic, is longitudinally passed through rolls 64 ofring-rolling apparatus illustrated in FIG. 10 to make web havingactivated and nonactivated zones. Rolls 64 consist of teeth which areseparated by a uniform distance, p, more commonly known as pitch. Theteeth of each roll 64 are offset by a distance P/2 from each other. Thedistance between the outer circumferences of the rolls 64 can be variedby an intermeshing distance, E, more commonly known as the engagement.In other embodiments the web may be an elastic web, such as an elasticweb formed from KRATON® D SIS (Kraton Polymers USA) that has beenlaminated to inelastic nonwoven carrier webs such as spunbond.

Ring-rolling of the shell web 30 incrementally stretches and therebyplastically deforms a plurality of the beam-like elements in thetransverse direction. The stretching of the beam-like elements occursincrementally across the width of the web (transverse direction) as thefilm is constrained at the tips of the teeth and is stretched an amountthat is proportional to the pitch and the engagement. As the engagementdepth of the rolls 64 is increased, the incremental stretching and theplastic deformation of the inelastic nonwoven facings are increased.

Once activated 62 and nonactivated 60 regions have been formed,components such as an ATL component 32 or an absorbent article component40 are attached to the nonactivated regions 60 of the web. Thecomponents may be attached using any method known in the art, forexample, adhesive bonding, pressure bonding, thermal bonding andultrasonic welding. Once the components are attached to form a compositeweb 53, individual body adhering absorbent articles 20 are die cut fromthe composite web 53. As a result of this configuration the componentsare laminated to nonactivated, non-stretchable portions of the web sothat when the individual body adhering absorbent articles 20 are die cutfrom the composite web 53 there will be little or no residual stretch inthe shells laminated regions where the ATL component 32 or absorbentcomponent 40 are attached, thereby reducing or eliminating curl in theindividual body adhering absorbent article 20.

Turning now to FIG. 11 another embodiment for manufacturing a bodyadhering absorbent article 20 is illustrated. As shown in FIG. 11, a web30 is activated by treating one or more selected regions 62 of the web30 in one or more selected directions, whereby the stretchability in theselected direction of the material can be controlled and substantiallyincreased in the selectively treated region(s). For example, theelasticity of a material with an initial stretch of from about 0 toabout 25% in the machine direction can be increased to about 100 toabout 200% stretch with selective treatment that is orientated in thecross-machine direction and treats from about 80 to about 100% of thematerial width. By selectively treating the shell material 30 in thecross-machine direction, an elastic web material having zoned stretchingin the machine direction may be produced. For example, by thermallytreating the web in a direction parallel to the cross-machine direction,treated regions or zones of material 62 are produce, such that when atensioning force is applied in the machine direction the treated zones62 will stretch or exhibit increased stretching, while untreated zones60 display little or no additional stretch.

Accordingly, in one embodiment the web of shell material may comprise alatent elastic laminate that upon activation may suitably be stretchedby at least about 25%, or at least about 100%, or at least about 200%,and may suitably recover at least about 5%, or at least about 15%, orabout 25% of the stretched length. The latent elastic laminate materialsmay have a basis weight between about 2 and about 60 grams per squaremeter (gsm), or between about 5 and about 30 gsm, or between about 5 andabout 15 gsm. Suitable latent elastic materials include, for example,the latent elastic laminate described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,820,001, thecontents of which are incorporated herein in a manner consistent withthe present disclosure. In a preferred embodiment the latent elasticlaminate is formed as a multi-segmented film web having heat activatableregions or zones where one or more of the segments within themulti-segmented film comprises an elastic segment, any additional layerslaminated thereto desirably comprise an extensible material or fabric.In this regard, the additional layer or layers can comprise, asexamples, extensible nonwoven materials (e.g., creped nonwovens ornonwovens comprising highly crimped fibers), meshed fabrics, looselywoven fabrics, elastic composite materials and/or other like materials.Desirably the fabric comprises one or more layers of thermoplasticfibers which are elastic, inherently extensible or which have beentreated so as to become extensible and/or elastic and which also have acloth-like hand and drape. The composition of the thermoplastic polymermay be selected as desired to achieve a material having the desiredphysical attributes such as, for example, elasticity, hand, tensilestrength, cost and so forth. Further, the outer nonwoven layer may betreated such as, for example, by embossing, hydroentangling,mechanically softening, printing, anti-static treatment or treated insome other manner in order to achieve desired aesthetics and/orfunctional characteristics.

In one embodiment, to activate the latent elastic laminate, the laminateis heated to at least a softening point of the latent polymer. When thelatent polymer softens, the elastic members are able to retract andgather the substrate, thereby resulting in a gathered structure that iselastic. Latent heat activation may be achieved at temperatures betweenabout 70 and about 290° C., or between about 70 and about 200° C.,depending largely upon the glass transition temperature of the latentpolymer as well as the basis weight of the polymer and the laminate, andalso depends upon the dwell time. For example, the latent heatactivation may be achieved at a temperature between about 140 and about160° C. with a dwell time of about 5 to about 10 seconds, or at atemperature between about 70 and about 160° C. with a dwell time ofabout 1 to about 10 seconds.

Accordingly, in one embodiment a transfer roller feeds the web 30 havingheat activatable elastic zones into a heat activation unit. The heatactivation unit may comprise, for example, a pair of rolls (two shown inFIGS. 11, 66 and 66). The rolls are preferably configured to providezoned heating to the web as it travels through the nip. For example, therolls may be configured to have both heated and unheated regions so thatas the web travels through the nip it is either heated on its upper andbottom surface by the heated regions of the rolls or is subjected tolittle or no heating by the unheated regions of the rolls.Alternatively, the rolls may be uniformly heated but comprise raisedelements, that when opposed created a heated nip that selectivelyactivates the web. The distance of web activated, as well as thenecessary residence time for heat activation to occur, may be controlledby varying the design and rotational speed of the rollers 66.

In certain preferred embodiments upon activation the web of shellmaterial 30 is allowed to retract at ambient temperatures as it passesinto and out of the heat activation unit. This retraction can occurafter the web travels from a first vacuum drum in the heating section toany subsequent drum and advantageously to a subsequent vacuum drum inthe quenching section. After this additional retraction has occurred theweb may be cooled on the quench vacuum roll(s) to preserve thisretracted state as the web is processed further. Additionally, thematerial can be collected and rolled up on a take-up roller at atemperature at or below the quench roll temperature and above ambienttemperature. During heat activation, generally the web of shell material30 can be retracted from about 15 to about 55%. Preferably the web ofshell material 30 can be retracted from about 25 to about 45%. Mostpreferably the web of shell material 30 can be retracted about 35%.Retraction can occur between one or more of the rollers 66.

After heat activation, components such as an ATL 32 or an absorbentcomponent 40 are attached to the inelastic regions 60 of the web. Thecomponents may be attached using any method known in the art, forexample, pressure bonding, adhesive bonding, thermal bonding andultrasonic welding. Once the components are attached to form a compositeweb, individual body adhering absorbent articles 20 are die cut from thecomposite web 53. As a result of this configuration the components arelaminated to nonactivated, non-stretchable portions of the web so thatwhen the individual body adhering absorbent articles 20 are die cut fromthe composite web 53 there will be little or no residual stretch in theshells laminated regions which will reduce or eliminate curl in theindividual body adhering absorbent article 20.

In an alternative embodiment, individual body adhering absorbentarticles 20 may be manufactured as described above, however, thecomponents such as an ATL 32 or an absorbent component 40 are attachedto a web 30 having heat activatable elastic zones prior to activation.The components may be attached using any method known in the art, forexample, adhesive bonding, pressure bonding, thermal bonding andultrasonic welding. Once the components are attached to form a compositeweb, regions between the components are heat activated. Afteractivation, individual body adhering absorbent articles 20 are die cutfrom the composite web 53. As a result of this configuration thecomponents are laminated to nonactivated, non-stretchable portions ofthe web so that when the individual body adhering absorbent articles aredie cut from the composite web there will be little or no residualstretch in the shells laminated regions which will reduce or eliminatecurl in the individual body adhering absorbent article.

In yet another embodiment illustrated in FIG. 12 a body adheringabsorbent article 20 may be manufactured using a multi-segmented filmweb 100 having alternating elastic and inelastic regions. Exemplarymulti-segmented film webs include webs prepared as described in U.S.application Ser. No. 12/649427, filed Dec. 30, 2009, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein in a manner consistent with the presentdisclosure. For example, a multi-segmented film web may be providedhaving segments that stretch of from about 0 to about 25% in the machinedirection and other segments that stretch from about 50 to about 100% inthe machine direction. Preferably the multi-segmented film is laminatedto one or more additional films and/or fabrics. For example, theapertured multi-segmented film described herein is bonded to a nonwovenweb, which may be either a single layer nonwoven web or a multilayernonwoven laminate that includes at least one layer of a nonwoven web ormultiple nonwoven layers such as, for example, a three layered laminatecomprising spunbond/meltblown/spunbond. The particular composition ofany additional layers attached to the multi-segmented film may beselected to achieve desired attributes such as, for example, aesthetics,strength, and durability. The multi-segmented film and other fabric(s)can be laminated together to form a particular embodiment of shellmaterial 30 by means known to those skilled in the art such as, forexample, by pressure bonding, thermal bonding, ultrasonic bonding,adhesive bonding and the like.

Where one or more of the segments within the multi-segmented filmcomprises an elastic segment, any additional layers laminated theretodesirably comprise an extensible material or fabric. In this regard, theadditional layer or layers can comprise, as examples, extensiblenonwoven materials (e.g., creped nonwovens or nonwovens comprisinghighly crimped fibers), meshed fabrics, loosely woven fabrics, elasticcomposite materials and/or other like materials. Desirably the fabriccomprises one or more layers of thermoplastic fibers which are elastic,inherently extensible or which have been treated so as to becomeextensible and/or elastic and which also have a cloth-like hand anddrape. The composition of the thermoplastic polymer may be selected asdesired to achieve a material having the desired physical attributessuch as, for example, elasticity, hand, tensile strength, cost and soforth. Further, the outer nonwoven layer may be treated such as, forexample, by embossing, hydroentangling, mechanically softening,printing, anti-static treatment or treated in some other manner in orderto achieve desired aesthetics and/or functional characteristics.

Components such as an ATL 32 or an absorbent article 40 are attached tothe inelastic regions 60 of the shell web 30. The components may beattached using any method known in the art, for example, pressurebonding, adhesive bonding, thermal bonding and ultrasonic welding. Oncethe components are attached to form a composite web, individual bodyadhering absorbent articles are die cut from the composite web 53. As aresult of this configuration the components are laminated tononactivated, non-stretchable portions of the web so that when theindividual body adhering absorbent articles are die cut from thecomposite web there will be little or no residual stretch in the shellslaminated regions which will reduce or eliminate curl in the individualbody adhering absorbent article.

In still another embodiment a body adhering absorbent article having asegmented shell may be manufactured to reduce curl. As illustrated inFIG. 13, a body adhering absorbent article may be manufactured byjoining multiple segments with each segment having a component such asan ATL 32 or absorbent 40 attached thereto. The segments may be eitherelastic or inelastic depending on the components to be attached and thedesired functionality and performance. For example, in one embodimentabsorbent components 40 are attached to an inelastic material, forexample a web of shell material that stretches less than about 25% inthe longitudinal direction, for example from about 5 to about 10% in thelongitudinal direction. Other segments 30 are stretchable in thelongitudinal direction, preferably being stretchable from about 50 toabout 100% in the longitudinal direction. Preferably each segment haslittle or no stretch in the lateral direction. The segments arepreferably arranged such that the distal ends of the absorbent articlecomprise segments having from about 50 to about 100% stretch in thelongitudinal direction, while the interior portion of the web comprisesone or more segments having from about 0 to about 25% stretch in thelongitudinal direction.

Preferably the shell materials are laminates comprising two or morefilms and/or fabrics. For example, the shell materials comprising themulti-segmented article may be bonded to a nonwoven web, which may beeither a single layer nonwoven web or a multilayer nonwoven laminatethat include at least one layer of a nonwoven web or multiple nonwovenlayers such as, for example, a three layered laminate comprisingspunbond/meltblown/spunbond. The particular composition of anyadditional layers attached to the multi-segmented film may be selectedto achieve desired attributes such as, for example, aesthetics,strength, and durability. The multi-segmented film and other fabric(s)can be laminated together by means known to those skilled in the artsuch as, for example, by pressure bonding, thermal bonding, ultrasonicbonding, adhesive bonding and the like.

Where one or more of the segments within the multi-segmented articlecomprises an elastic segment, any additional layers laminated to theshell material desirably comprise an extensible material or fabric. Inthis regard, the additional layer or layers can comprise, as examples,extensible nonwoven materials (e.g., creped nonwovens or nonwovenscomprising highly crimped fibers), necked nonwovens, meshed fabrics,loosely woven fabrics, elastic composite materials and/or other likematerials. Desirably the fabric comprises one or more layers ofthermoplastic fibers which are elastic, inherently extensible or whichhave been treated so as to become extensible and/or elastic and whichalso have a cloth-like hand and drape. The composition of thethermoplastic polymer may be selected as desired to achieve a materialhaving the desired physical attributes such as, for example, elasticity,hand, tensile strength, cost and so forth. Further, the outer nonwovenlayer may be treated such as, for example, by embossing,hydroentangling, neck stretching, mechanically softening, printing,anti-static treatment or treated in some other manner in order toachieve desired aesthetics and/or functional characteristics.

Preferably components such as an absorbent structure 40 are attached tothe inelastic segments, which are preferably in-turn attached to elasticsegments having components such as an ATL 32. The various segments maybe attached to one another using any method known in the art, forexample, adhesive bonding, thermal bonding and ultrasonic welding. Onceattached, the segments form a body adhering absorbent article. As aresult of this configuration the components may be laminated tonon-stretchable segments such that the resulting body adhering absorbentarticle has little or no residual stretch in the shells laminatedregions which will reduce or eliminate curl in the individual bodyadhering absorbent article.

Accordingly, the multi-segmented body adhesive absorbent articleillustrated in FIG. 13 may be manufactured such that the absorbentarticles are oriented in the machine direction by forming two compositewebs, each web having components oriented in the longitudinal directionattached thereto and then attaching the two composite webs together toform a third composite web, from which the absorbent article may be cut.For example, the first step may be supplying a web of elastic shellmaterial attaching at least one component to the web of nonelastic shellmaterial, such that the component is oriented in the longitudinaldirection and forms a first composite web material. Then supplying a webof nonelastic shell material, attaching at least one component to theweb of elastic shell material such that the component is oriented in thelongitudinal direction and forms a second composite web material. Thefirst composite web material may then be attached to the secondcomposite web material to form a third composite material, which may becut to form an absorbent article having a predetermined size and shape.The various components may be selected from, for example, an absorbentarticle, adhesive transfer layer, a barrier layer, a body adheringadhesive, an absorbent and containment flaps. The segments may beattached to one another using methods known in the art, for example,laminating, adhesive attachment, thermal bonding, pressure bonding orultrasonic bonding. In certain preferred embodiments, such as thatillustrated in FIG. 13, the multi-segmented body adhesive absorbentarticle may comprise three segments. In such instances the segmentsbearing the adhesive transfer layers 32 have an elastic shell material,while the segments bearing the absorbent 40 have nonelastic shellmaterial. Other arrangements of segments and elastic and nonelasticshell materials, however, are contemplated and may be preferabledepending on the desired composition and characteristics of the bodyadhering absorbent article.

A particularly preferred method of manufacturing a machine directionoriented body adhesive absorbent article is illustrated in FIG. 15. Nowwith reference to FIG. 15, a web of shell material 30 is unwound onto avacuum conveyor. Preferably the web shell is unwound onto the vacuumconveyor and maintained under little or no tension. Segments of ATL 32are cut, rotated 90° and attached to the web of shell material 30. ATL32 segments may be attached by methods known in the art, such as thosedisclosed herein. The attachment of the ATL 32 to the shell material 30forms a first composite web, which is then cut into discrete panels 55by a cutting apparatus 54. An absorbent component 40 is then attached tothe discrete panel 55, preferably near the longitudinal ends of thepanel 55, forming a second composite web 53. In certain embodiments theabsorbent component 40 may be first attached to a web shell material toform an absorbent component-shell composite material from whichindividual absorbent components may be cut prior to attachment to thediscrete panels. Once the absorbent component 40 is attached to thediscrete panel 55 to form a second composite web 53, the secondcomposite web 53 is cut to form a body adhering absorbent article 20.

It will be appreciated that details of the foregoing examples, given forpurposes of illustration, are not to be construed as limiting the scopeof this invention. Although only a few exemplary embodiments of thisinvention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the artwill readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in theexamples without materially departing from the novel teachings andadvantages of this invention. For example, features described inrelation to one example may be incorporated into any other example ofthe invention.

Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included withinthe scope of this invention, which is defined in the following claimsand all equivalents thereto. Further, it is recognized that manyembodiments may be conceived that do not achieve all of the advantagesof some embodiments, particularly of the preferred embodiments, yet theabsence of a particular advantage shall not be construed to necessarilymean that such an embodiment is outside the scope of the presentinvention. As various changes could be made in the above constructionswithout departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:
 1. A method of manufacturing a body adhering absorbent articleoriented in the machine direction comprising: a. supplying an elasticweb of shell material having a longitudinal and transverse direction; b.stretching the web of shell material in the longitudinal direction; c.deadening at least one region of the stretched web of shell material inthe longitudinal direction to form a longitudinal deadened zone; d.attaching at least one component to at least a portion of thelongitudinal deadened zone to form a composite web material; and e.cutting the composite web material to form an absorbent article having apredetermined size and shape.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein thecomponents are selected from the group consisting of an adhesivetransfer layer, an absorbent article, a banter layer, a body adheringadhesive, an absorbent and containment flaps.
 3. The method of claimwherein the step of attaching comprises laminating, adhesive attachment,thermal bonding, pressure bonding or ultrasonic bonding.
 4. The methodof claim 1 wherein the step of deadening comprises bonding the stretchedshell material in the transverse and/or longitudinal directions.
 5. Themethod of claim 4 wherein bonding takes place by ultrasonic bonding,adhesive bonding, pressure bonding or thermal bonding.
 6. A method ofmanufacturing body adhering absorbent article comprising: a. supplying aweb of shell material b. attaching an adhesive transfer layer to the webof shell material to form a first composite web; c. cutting the firstcomposite web to form discrete panels; d, attaching an absorbentcomponent to the discrete panels to form a second composite web; and e.cutting the second composite we material to form an absorbent articlehaving a predetermined size and shape.
 7. The method of claim 6 whereinthe web of shell material is unwound onto a vacuum conveyor, maintainingthe web of shell material substantially without tension.
 8. The methodof claim 6 further comprising the step of rotating the adhesive transferlayer about 90° before attaching the adhesive transfer layer to the webof shell material.